A New Generation
by restive nature
Summary: 38 stories by my 38th birthday. Bella just wanted to be the one to be strong now. She wanted to be the one to protect those that were weaker.


Series Title: 38 By 38

Fiction Title: A New Generation

Author: Restive Nature

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to BtVS. They belong to Whedon & Mutant Enemy. I do not own the rights to Twilight, they belong to Meyer and Little Brown Publishing. No infringement is intended and this fiction is for private enjoyment only.

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Crossover

Type: Angsty

Pairing: Canon Pairings

Summary: She wanted to be the one to be strong now. She wanted to be the one to protect those that were weaker.

Spoilers/ Time line: Book 2 "New Moon" for Twilight-verse and post Season 3 of BtVS.

Feedback: Always welcome!

Distribution: Ask first please.

A/N: This fiction came out of a stray thought I had while I was discussing these books with my elder children. Only one character that was author created comes from the Buffy-verse. I do plan to expand on this story, checking in on a scene that was not included in this portion of fiction and continuing on from where it goes at the end. So please, enjoy.

A New Generation

I stared at Edward, not quite even with him as we stood in the massive, impressive, though slightly disturbing chamber that the Volturi guards had brought us too. Vampires, other than the Cullen's were down right terrifying. And I had truly thought that perhaps the worst of things had passed when I was once again in Edward's arms. True, there were still some things to work out. Like whether or not Edward truly cared for me, or, if as he had told me in that rainy forest outside my home in Forks, Washington, that I was just a distraction in his very long life.

It didn't seem to me as if he might. If he did, wouldn't he give the leader of the Vampire royalty, Aro, his assurances that to keep their secrets, he would turn me into a Vampire such as they were. Well, with the major difference would be that as a member of the Cullen family, I couldn't bring myself to think of them as a coven like the Volturi vampires, I would limit my diet to drinking from animals. And not humans as other Vampires did.

And while it was true that Alice had said on the plane trip over that she was tempted to do it herself, that the vision she had been gifted with had shown her me as a Vampire, I couldn't trust her friend to go against Edward's wishes. After all, the whole Cullen family had left me, alone and defenseless in Forks with vengeful Vampires coming after me.

"Mean it," I begged of him softly, referring to the out that Aro had gifted them with. But his tortured countenance only deepened and something in his eyes warned me. It was everything I had feared. No matter what he said or did, he just didn't want me. And it was more heartbreaking than the possibility of dying here today. Unable to tell my father farewell, assure my mother that it had been a pretty good life. Leaving my friends and family behind with no clues, with the great exception of Jake, who was a werewolf and would be unable to explain the full implications behind my disappearance.

Perhaps, I wondered absurdly, it would be just thing that Jake seemed to be looking for, an excuse to start up a war between the werewolves of La Push against the Cullen's. A way to overturn the treaty that Jacob's very own great grandfather had created with Carlisle Cullen.

"Oh for crying out loud," another Vampire broke away from a group of spectators that had been silently observing the proceedings. I didn't exactly miss the way Aro's head snapped to the female's direction. But I did see the confusion clearing for a moment on Edward's face, looking slightly hopefully. But the scowl that swiftly followed told me that hope wasn't too be found in this distraction. "There is another way, you know," the female, about my height, pointed out, even as Caius hissed slightly. Of course, it had been Caius that had declared that it was my life and my life only that was forfeit for being a human among Vampires. One that knew the secret that they all strove so hard to protect.

Instinctively, I cringed away from the unknown female, even as Aro moved closer, as did Edward. Alice, I noted, was staring at the Vampire, but it was not the vacant stare that indicated she was having a vision. It was more like an annoyed and potentially dangerous glare that reminded me, that for as tiny as Alice was, she was a heck of a lot more lethal than I on her best day. Or her very worst.

But what alarmed me was that Caius and Marcus, the lackadaisical Vampire that finished up the trio of Volturi royalty, were sitting forward in their thrones, their eyes keen. "Is it...?" Marcus breathed out and I wondered what it was about this Vampire that had them sitting up and taking notice as it were.

With no small measure of pomp, the unknown Vampire threw back her hood to reveal, to my utter let down and disappointment, a rather ordinary face. It wasn't old and papery looking, like Aro's was. Nor was it young, icy white and beautiful like the others. In fact, this was the closest to human looking Vampire that I had ever seen. Or maybe she wasn't, I decided after a moment of studying this new person nervously.

Before anyone could speak though, the female continued. "Sorry to disappoint, but Anyanka's been... reassigned."

"Oh, how sad," Marcus moaned, sinking back into his seat. Caius spared his brother an annoyed glance and then turned back to the drama unfolding before him.

"Not necessarily, brother," he grinned ferociously, eying me in a way that had both Edward and Alice moving closer to me. Protectively, like an automatic habit,. "Perhaps we should ask...?"

"I am Somehka," the Vampire perhaps human, introduced itself.

"Somehka," Caius repeated, and then glanced around the room at large, clearly enjoying himself. "Perhaps Somehka would like to explain why D'Hoffryn went back on his decision to interfere in our business once more?" he ended on a light note, sounding amused. The other one, this Somehka, didn't seem so, but it was hard to tell.

"D'Hoffryn does not make all of the rules," the being seemed to be reminding them. "There are some that are immutable. This time is one of them."

"Really?" Aro drawled. "Not that we're... not ungrateful, the last being what it was. Of course, you realize why we worry?"

"I can see why," Somehka responded, eyes darting to Edward and then to Alice and finally, to me. "Regardless," she, since I was really starting to get the feeling that it was a she, straightened up, "I have a job to do and your concerns do not concern me."

"Perhaps they should," Caius hissed. "You forget your history."

"I've forgotten nothing," Somehka smirked at the blond prince of Vampires. "Did you really think I would come in here with no defenses in place?"

"If you could even engage quickly enough," Caius taunted.

"I'd be gone before you could even twitch towards your bully boy," Somehka half scoffed and all eyes turned towards Felix, even mine, though it was only because everyone else had looked to him. He seemed startled at the sudden attention, but then the same feral grin that had been on his face before returned. I was starting to get a headache.

"Wait!" Edward half shouted, holding his hands up. "Do you mean to tell me..." he began, his voice incredulous as he stared between this Somehka and Aro. Aro's face went from annoyed to thoughtful and then amused almost too quickly for me to register.

"It's never come up dear Edward," Aro purred, one eyebrow arched as if daring Edward to question him further. I glanced at Alice and she seemed just as perplexed as I was at what was going on. "You of all people should know best how your gifts work. We did not think it, therefore, you did not hear it. And it's only been recently that this information came to light, relatively speaking of course."

"Of course," Edward grunted, shaking his head slightly. I couldn't tell if he was amused or upset or maybe just sort of stunned. "But this..." Okay, awed is what he sounded now and even Alice was getting twitchy to figure things out. Suddenly he was standing before the stranger, Somehka. "I want to-!" he began but the stranger held up her hand.

"Get the facts, back the hell off and let me do my job," she growled and Edward looked surprised. "This is between me," she pointed to herself and then to me. "And her." Her gaze traveled around the Vampires that were assembled. Aro was smirking, as was Caius and Marcus had gone back to looking bored. The other Vampires were looking a little apprehensive. Alice had gone stock still, her eyes glazing over and Edward's head snapped around to stare at his sister.

And in that tiny moment of confusion, everything changed. Somehka was before me and I hadn't even seen her move. The smirk was still there on her face and I instinctively tried to move back from this unknown Vampire, if that was even what she was. Because she didn't seem like any I had met or seen before.

"Let's go dearie," she cooed and I tried to hold up my hands, a physical sign to back the hell off me, but she grabbed my hand and then everything was spinning.

It wasn't the usual sensation of running. Or at least being carried by a Vampire that was running. The dizzying speed as things rushed by me. No, this was true spinning and dizzying that way, disorienting and when it finally stopped, I had to squint my eyes at the bright flash of light that just wasn't going away. I covered my eyes with my hand and managed to gasp out, "what? Where are we?"

"The only possible safe place at the moment," Somehka chuckled. "Take a moment. I assume you've never traveled this way before?"

"Uh, what way?" I asked as I slowly blinked from behind the cover of my hand. I warily started to lower it and found that unlike the assumption I had made about the lights being something extraordinary, it was simply the transition from inside to out. She was right that it would be safe, from Vampires at least, because while we weren't in a crowded area, there were people around. My vision was starting to realign itself, though the sounds were slightly muted. Like I was waiting for my ears to pop after a long flight.

"Teleportation," she answered succinctly. "It's one of my... gifts."

"Oh," I answered, a little dumbly. "One of?" I asked then, because I hadn't ever heard of a Vampire having more than one gift. Edward had his mind reading, Alice her visions. Except Jasper, I guessed. He could sense emotions, but also manipulate them. But that was sort of two sides of the same coin.

"It's actually an addition to what I really do," Somehka deigned to explain. She laughed fully outright then and I looked at her in confusion. "You're confused," she stated and I nodded. That was no secret. "Let me explain then, which should make things easier, especially as you already know about Vampires."

"Please do," I almost begged. "Because none of this is making sense to me."

"All right," she nodded. "I'm not actually a Vampire," she began with a smirk and I nodded. I had wondered about that right from the start of her interfering in the Volturi's palace. "I sometimes move in the same circles as they, because of my job."

"Your job?" I echoed, still confused. "Like..." I struggled to remember the girl's name and then it came to me. "Gianna? Do you want to be a Vampire?"

"Oh no," she shook her head, looking surprised. "Sorry, but they're so... limited."

I laughed in shock then. "Limited? Is there anything they can't do?" I asked incredulously.

"Quite a lot, actually, when you think in terms larger than what most humans are capable of," she said and sounded quite sympathetic.

"So, then, what are you? Exactly?' I wanted to know.

"Well, the classification system is debatable," she shrugged. "But I am known as the Patron Saint of Scorned Women. It's a title I inherited from my predecessor."

"That Anyanka?" I struggled to remember the name and the hopeful way that Marcus had said it.

"Yes," she hissed slightly, obviously unhappy about that. But then she seemed to wave away whatever was bothering her. "Bella," she gentled her tone and reached for my hand. I didn't want to give it to her, but non-Vampire or not, I didn't think that I could take her on, being just a normal girl that had the paranormal all around her. "Your pain, the pain that you've been feeling all this time, it called me to you."

"Called you?" I demanded. "Called you how? And why now? Why not before?"

"It's been calling me all along," she explained, though it wasn't much of one that made reasonable sense. "There have been times that I was ready to go to you, but you weren't yet ready for me. Today, I sensed that the time may have come."

"The time for what?" I wanted to know, still mystified but intrigued by this new turn of events, that if nothing else had taken me from Caius' clutches.

"Bella, I am a representative of beings that deliver Justice for the truly wronged," she told me and I shook my head in instant denial. She tightened her grip on my hand slightly and ducked slightly, being taller than I after all, to look in my eyes. "We are Immortal beings here for just this purpose. We are not Vampires, nor are we werewolves. But we are here because these things touch on humans lives. We are equalizers."

"Has this... has this happened before?" I wondered, remembering what Edward and Aro had been hinting at with their bizarre conversation.

"This specific situation?" she grinned and then shook her head. "Not exactly, but let's just say that a beautiful young girl like yourself falling in love with a Vampire? I've seen that hundreds of times over."

"Really?" I was surprised and felt my eyebrows shoot up. "Seriously? Hundreds?"

Somehka laughed again and turned so that she was level with me and dropped my hand to wrap her arm around my shoulders. Strangely enough, I didn't feel all that uncomfortable anymore. She had interesting information and maybe I would hear something that I could use to my advantage. "Bella, contrary to popular belief, this world did not start off as a paradise."

"You mean, like Biblical stuff?' I questioned, wondering what Carlisle would think of that announcement.

"Exactly," she nodded. "Let's walk so we're not so conspicuous."

"We're not going to...?" I waved my hand in a swirly motion and she shook her head.

"Not unless you wish to," she offered. "Or it's absolutely necessary. I see that it disorients you and I'd rather you made your decision with a clear head. You understand?"

"Yeah, I'd prefer that myself too," I agreed. "But what decision?"

"That's what we're getting to," she commented and suddenly, she was dressed as an ordinary young woman. Sort of like how I was dressed, in jeans, a shirt though she wore a cardigan over top of hers. "Okay, focus," she drew my attention back up to her. I determinedly focused on what she was trying to tell me and we started walking down the street.

"The world wasn't a paradise," I reiterated and she nodded.

"This world was overrun with demons," she explained. "Demons like out of your nightmares, Vampires unlike what you are familiar with, among them. But humans came along and began to beat them back. They were smart and resourceful, even back then. But at the cusp of being exterminated, one of the demons bit a human, mixing it's blood with the human and the first corporeal Vampire was born. It was a terrible thing," she shuddered as she said it.

"I... yeah, I can imagine," I shuddered along with her, because I could imagine. I remembered well the sensation of being hunted close up by a red eyed, blood thirsty Vampire.

"And thus the quest for balance began," Somehka went on. "Justice Beings were created and I know that it's very hard to fathom, but we grew, in numbers, in powers, to help the humans find a way to thrive in this world. But only those that truly need us. You Isabella Swan, definitely qualify."

"But why?"

"I'm sure of you think about it, it will come to you," Somehka replied mildly, though I could see something flashing in her eyes, reminding me that she wasn't Vampire, she wasn't a werewolf, if that were even possible, since it had only ever been heard of in some of the males of Jacob's tribe. She was definitely something more. And powerful, if the Volturi were wary of her. She was...

"Scorned women," I murmured, feeling a little foolish. "Edward and then Jacob. But... not anymore."

"Weren't you just, once again?" she questioned harshly. "Back there, in their death chamber?"

"I..." I began to protest, but honestly, she was right. Just because I understood how Edward felt about the situation, that he would rather I be anything but a Vampire, even dead apparently, told me the truth. He would rather that I died and he followed immediately after than turn me into a "monster" like him. In my mind, that was just sick. "But you can change things?" I clarified, having worked out that this was what she was here for. To make a wish, to make amends to me for being scorned by the man I loved, by the best friend and family that had abandoned me, though he had sworn that he wouldn't.

"What is it that you want most?" Somehka asked her gently. She reached to put her arm around my shoulders and surprisingly, she wasn't cold like I expected. The whole Vampire thing really was a facade. "It was obvious, back there, that you are willing to become a Vampire. Why? To be with your love forever? Romantic, but not technically practical," she winced and shook her head quickly. "After all, there's no guarantee that you would be mates."

"But we love each other," I defended and then winced myself. Maybe that had been true once, when I had believed in the lie. After all, what could a human like myself have, aside from liters of his natural food source and a mind that he couldn't read, providing a challenge, to make Edward want to keep me around? "I love him."

"And he'd rather see you dead than in his arms forever," Somehka scoffed, echoing my thoughts of just a moment ago. "Terribly tragic, hmm? Tell me, he was turned as young as he appears?"

"Seventeen," I confirmed and I could suddenly see it from her point of view. The eternal angsty teenager. I could see it because I had wondered myself. Locked into his mind set, he had told me that I had changed him. Really, being his sun in a black night sky just woke him up a little, to what there was in the world. It didn't necessarily make him grow up. Or change. Maybe he had just switched from obsession to obsession to obsession. Making his "change" when the latest lost it's attraction, or flavor.

"I can see the attraction of that," Somehka nodded seriously. "To be young seeming forever," she supplied, though she tapped on long, perfectly manicured nail on her lips lightly. I was reminded for a moment of Rosalie, the most beautiful of the Cullen's and indeed any Vampires that I had met so far. "But you don't strike me as the type of girl to be like that. You're more... and no offense dear, you're more the sweetheart of a girl next door."

"Yeah, I guess," I agreed. She wasn't wrong there. I was definitely the plain Jane sort.

"Quite unaware of your own charms, whatever they may be," she chuckled. "So Bella, what was the attraction of the Vampires then?"

I shrugged my shoulders, unsure if I could explain it to a stranger. But maybe that in itself was a good thing. Although some warnings, mostly in my father's voice, were ringing through my mind, I found myself spilling a little of my inner most feelings. "I've never fit in with everyone else," I explained. "I've always felt different. Out of step or too mature for my friends. Not that I've had all that many of them. I've had to take care of my parents in different ways for a long time, be the adult. My mom says I was born an old soul. And that's how I feel. When I figured out that Edward was a Vampire and that werewolves exist, I didn't run or scream or anything you'd think a smart person would do. But I felt right with them all. Sort of. The ones that like me anyway. And when I thought that I might become one of them, that I would have a family, a place to belong. I'd be strong enough not to need to be protected all the time." My chest was heaving by the time I finished and I whispered out, shaking my head sadly. "I just wanted to be strong."

Somehka was watching me, nodding every once in a while as I let everything off my chest. Finally she ducked a little to look me straight in the eyes. "This is what you wish. To be strong enough to what?"

"To be the one..." I swallowed heavily and then inhaled deeply before looking her square in the eyes. "I wish that I was the one strong enough to be able to protect others!"

Her lips curved into an approximation of a smile. "I can work with that," she nodded quickly. And then her face changed. Almost like I had once thought that Vampires faces would, but hers was much more extreme. Twisting into something out of a nightmare. "Wish granted!" her voice boomed, drawing attention through the square to us, but as I felt a tingling going through my body and seeming to settle in the deepest recesses of my brain, I was powerless to do anything. Finally the sensation abated, for the most part, although I felt an itchiness that wasn't quite an itchiness, that I wanted to tear my fingernails across in the back of my neck.

"What did you do?" I demanded. I looked down at my hands. There was no sparkle. There was no hardness or coldness. In fact, I had never felt more alive. Even after all the near death experiences that I had had recently in my life.

"I granted your wish," Somehka smiled happily. "Fulfilled my quota for the day and gave those old Vultures something to think about. Oh, how they will rue the day they offended my master. But that's a story you may never hear. I can't wait to see how they take you now. Let us return. I'm sure you're... anxious to see your friends?"

"Yes, please," I nodded. Why wasn't I a vampire, my mind wondered as I took her hand once more. Obviously I wasn't specific enough. She was almost like a genie with the misleading ideas and the word specific wishes that were granted. I should have remembered that. But I did feel stronger, Somehka even winced as my hand closed it's grip around hers. Truthfully, my skin crawled a little at her touch and I wanted to rip my hand away, much like when Aro had taken my hand. But I quelled the instinct. I prepared myself for the return trip, which was exactly like the previous one, without all the resulting dizziness.

Our return seemed to startle the rest of the Vampires. They all stared in shock at where we were standing and while my heart cried out for Edward, a silent plea that he would never hear, there was a part of me that felt repulsed by the coldness in that room. I had no other way to describe it. I wanted to tear it down, burn the palace and salt the earth. All with these Volturi, these Vampires within, their burning pieces acrid in my nose, the screeches of their tearing limbs, music to my ears. I gasped softly, which was echoed by Alice only a moment later.

"I can't see her," my best friend cried out in shock and Edward was shaking his head slightly.

"Well, an interesting turn of events," Aro drawled, glancing at the all seeing pixie-like Vampire. I felt sick, my lips trembling as where my once best friend stood, I now felt revulsion. This was Alice! 'How could I feel this?' I wondered numbly, silently to myself. "And not one I would have imagined. What precisely did she wish for?"

"Oh Aro," Somehka giggled girlishly. "You know that I am bound by certain confidentiality clauses. As to what she wished, I'm sure you'll figure it out quickly enough. It's not so very hard to discern." With that said, she turned to me and took the shoulder closest to her. "Just remember, when the time comes, the gift that I gave you, in the name of D'Hoffryn. This wish can not be changed and Bella? You've just changed the world."

"What?" I whispered brokenly. I didn't need that. I didn't need the whole world to change for me. I had found my world, I had thought. But suddenly now, it was anathema to me. I looked at the still figures, like statues around the room, all staring at me and that urge, overcame me once again. I wanted to kill, to burn. I didn't realize until all the Vampires had eased back slightly from me that the growl in the room was coming from my chest, from me.

"What did you do?" Edward demanded, his eyes heavy, and though they were focused on me, he was asking this of Somehka. A demon. I focused on him, trying to bring back the love that I felt for him. It was there, I knew it, but it felt like it was being slowly smothered, barely more than an ember now. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Marcus rising from his throne. He was the one with the ability to see relationships.

At his pronouncement, many faces turned his way. "Their bond is breaking," he announced in that monotone way that he seemed to have. Boredom of everything. He would welcome an end, I sensed. "She serves a new master now."

"No," Edward protested even as Marcus spoke.

"If things have changed so much that she will not be part of the Cullen clan," Caius hissed happily as I turned to glare at him, no longer so afraid of his menacing presence, "then the law must be upheld."

"Alas," Aro nodded slowly, as if he were regretting this. He glanced at Edward, who began to struggle, within himself, but it was still there in his eyes. "This is true. I am so sorry Edward. I would never have wanted the situation to come to this. Our laws are absolute. I tried to give you a chance, but you must see..."

"Felix, take her," Caius commanded and within the blink of an eye, Felix was before me, reaching for me. But I had seen him coming. How had I done that? I put my hands up to block his grasp and felt the cold stone of his hand in my own. Instinctively, knowing it wouldn't do any good, but still I had to try, I twisted out of his way. Somehow, I could not think when this threat was before me. The movement was swift, he didn't expect it, and really, neither did I. I twisted around, holding his hand in both of my own and when I finished spinning away, I held his hand still, but I was several feet away and there was a screaming, wrenching noise filling the halls to the rafter.

Everyone, including myself, but strangely, not Somehka was staring in shock as Felix dropped to his knees, cradling his wrist were there was no more hand. Because it was in mine. But Somehka, that evil, evil demon was laughing uproariously, like it was the best joke that she had ever heard.

Finally, it was Caius that came out of his stupor. "Kill her!" he roared to the remaining guard and even as movement surged around me, Edward and Alice screaming things out and Aro looking petrified, I felt hands on my shoulder. Warm hands, I registered and then Somehka's voice in my ear.

"The odds are not good, but they had to know for the game to continue," she hissed at me. "Come on little Slayer. Time to go!"

And we spun through the world once more.


End file.
